


Gone

by Campclarke



Category: Eliza Taylor - Fandom, Fear the Walking Dead (TV), The 100, alycia debnam-carey - Fandom, clexa - Fandom, lgbtq - Fandom
Genre: Alycia Debnam-Carey - Freeform, Eliza Taylor - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Inspired by - Fear the walking dead, M/M, Multi, Other, The 100 - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-09
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-08-30 01:18:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8513236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Campclarke/pseuds/Campclarke
Summary: The world has been brought to its knees and this time god wasn't there to answer its prayer.





	1. Intro

POV: Alicia

The tall buildings of New York City were now covered in ash from the fires, spray paint from the riots, and blood from the living. The living that were trying to escape the dead. My eyes scanned the desolate landscape. I tried to find one thing that still held beauty. Just one thing that was simply still intact and not destroyed. But to no surprise my search fell short. The world had been brought to its knees and this time God wasn't there to answer its prayers. How I looked at it, there could be no god. Not after everything I've seen.

I still sat sprawled out with no shame in the bed of Adams truck. The only thing that clung to me more than the clothes I've been wearing for the past week was sweat. The sun shot straight to the asphalt and bounced back onto me.

You see we were stuck in the worst possible plot of an 80's horror movie. Being the impulsive romantic that I am, I decided to jump ship with my boyfriend of two years leaving my family behind. And yes, while that seems like a grand gesture, and it had the potential to be some real Nicholas Sparks type shit. It has proven to just cause me pain.

I wanted so desperately to see my family again. I wanted to argue with my brother. Cry into my moms chest as she held me tight. And finally I wanted to sit with my dad and just listen. Because even though I always hated his lectures, he was always right and now his thoughts would hold more meaning in my head than anyone's.

If it wasn't clear yet. I'm going through my youth in the middle of the apocalypse. Just two months ago I had walked across the stage at graduation. Received my diploma and had a clear and hopeful outlook for my future. My biggest worry was trying to sneak a twenty dollar bill to my older brother so he could slip out to get my friends and I beer before we left the boring graduation parties for the fun ones. Parties filled with laughter, dumb choices, and conversations where you promised your best friends you'd never lose touch once you left for school that coming fall.

_**Promise**_.

That was a foreign term to me now. I never let that word slip past my lips anymore. This wasn't the time or the place where you left a shred of hope in anyone's mind. Nothing was certain here. Not even death. You came back and remained a haunted canvas that slipped through life your mind on one thing only.

_**Blood**_. And blood was certain.

I let the back of my hand slide across my forehead, beads of sweat collecting on my skin. I wondered if there was anyone out there alone. Anyone who didn't have a single person to help them survive just one more minute of the hell that's broken loose on this very ground. And if so where do they go, who do they talk to. Who wipes away their tears. Who helps them laugh when humor died along with half of the population weeks ago. I can't imagine being alone. I can't imagine closing my eyes and not waking up to a familiar face inches from mine. If I didn't have that my sanity would've been gone a long time ago.

_**Gone**_.

I couldn't find a better word to describe humanity.

 


	2. The unknown

"Okay so you're telling me you wouldn't eat me if I was the last source of food for you?" Adam joked tossing another peanut into the back of his mouth. His full lips pulled up into a smile briefly as he waited for me to continue in his childish conversation.  
"Well I mean if I'm going to be eating a human as my last meal, I'd rather it be worth the trauma. So-" I stretched out the last word with a mocking tone.  
"What are you implying here Ms. Clark?" Counteracting my playful tone he scooted in closer, his face inches from mine now.  
"I'm implying that I'd rather have a gourmet meal. So I would probably choose someone like Zac Efron."  
Placing a fake hurtful expression on his face and clutching his heart. He slumped back into his previous position up against the worn down couch. "Well fine. Don't eat me!"  
"I'm just saying 'I ate my boyfriend during the zombie apocalypse' just sounds like a bad R L Stine book."  
He shrugged hopped to his feet and walked slowly to me. Getting a real good look at him in the morning light that shot through the stain glass window. The colors danced on his skin enhancing every feature perfectly. I stumbled back a few feet, feeling overwhelmed with his intense gaze as he inched closer. After two years he still made me feel like a 12 year old girl. Closing the last two feet he grabbed my waist gently tugging me to him. Adam leaned in leaving nothing between us. Not even air. I thought he was gonna kiss me, but he turned my head to the side and let his breath dance along my jawline.  
"Good luck eating Zac Efron. He is like 100% muscle. That's tough to chew. You'll be picking veins out of your teeth left and right" I could feel his smug smirk. He knew damn well what he just did and he thrived off working me up.  
And before I knee it he was turning on his heel heading for the door of the small one bedroom apartment. His laugh trailing behind him.  
"Wait! Where are you going?" I scanned the room for my bag. It didn't really matter where he was going I wasn't going to stay here by myself for any amount of time.  
"I have to go find Zac Efron, so my girlfriend won't go hungry. If he's still alive." His voice growing smaller as it followed him down the tiny stairwell. I grinned to myself and scooped up my bag. Dust kicked up off the couch as I hoisted it over my shoulders.  
If I had to say one thing and one thing only about Adam. It was that he could make someones day brighter. Even if they never knew their fate through the next day or week.

The small apartment we've been taking refuge in was a great candidate for survival. The quaint dusty residence was stacked above a modest food store and was located right on the edge of the city,making it easy for a timely get away if need be. Most of the supplies had been stripped from all the desperate people before they fled the city, but there was enough to sustain us for the past month and a half.

I was only a few short steps behind Adam now. "Where are we going again?"

He lifted the water jug that was tied around his torso swishing the liquid around. The small amount glistened under the hot July sun. "We need to head north where there is more places to collect water. We've sucked this whole area dry."

My face fell instantly. The last time we were in the northern part of the city the rebels had held a gun to Adam's head until he forfeited all our weapons and food. I can remember the fear like it was just a few moments ago. "There is no way in hell I'm going back that way."

"Alicia look around. You're already in the middle of hell and if we don't get more water and food, this is the beginning of the end." He was right. Despite the previous playful mood, we both knew time wasn't on our side and we weren't gonna be able to make the long haul back to North Carolina without any supplies.

He faced me keeping his features soft. "Look I know its scary, and all we have is each other, but if we don't go we aren't making it back to your family. I swear we'll sweep along the outskirts and take what we can carry. It'll take us no time once we get there." He held onto my waist with one hand and brushed a stray strand of hair with the other. I thought I'd feel more comfort from his assurance; however, all I could feel was numb.

The heat was sinking into my skin in a way I've never experienced before. Even my joints ached for rest, water, and relief.My head was spinning and all I could see was the memory. The memory of the night we crossed into territory that was never meant for us. I remember begging Adam to stop for the night, my eyes in a constant battle with the impending exhaustion that threatened to take over my mind. He refused and said we needed to fill up two more bags and then we could settle in somewhere. But that was one minute too late. I was about to let the fatigue consume me when my body was slammed against the already too tight seat belt. My eyes opened unwillingly and I didn't believe what they saw. A line of motorcycles and jacked up trucks blocked the street ahead. lights flooded into the windows and I had to shield my face from the sudden exposure. I managed to forget half of the interaction between us and the rebels all up until he approached the side of the truck. Tattoos roamed his neck and crawled down his arms, the look in his eyes was almost like the dead. He wanted what he wanted and no one was gonna stop him. Raising the barrel of the gun he pressed it right against Adams temple. Adam winced at the pressure, but remained unfazed. Expressing his demands Adam decided not to wait for a bluff in his promise to blow his brains across the cab of his truck. Leading him to the storage box in the bed of his truck he watched as they cleaned out all that we worked so hard to build up. I had still expected to end up dead that night, but the rebels left us with three words.

Don't come back.

"Alicia?"

My vision becoming obscured, solid objects swaying side to side. I reached for Adam, his hand met mine as if he knew before me.

"Alicia! Drink this. Now!" His voice was warped, a weird underwater effect laced his words. Trying to find my own voice seemed impossible so I just pushed against the jug, refusing our last source of water.

"Dammit, drink the water!" I could feel his arm wraparound my neck and the plastic top meet my lips once more. Only this time Adam wasn't letting me refuse. The now warm liquid flooded my mouth and I tried to swallow it before i choked.

My weight was being supported so I allowed my limbs to fall to my sides. I wanted to let the exhaustion devour me, take me under and let me finally have peaceful rest. But the thought of seeing my family again materialized and I needed to remain strong. I needed to see them again. I needed to tell them how sorry I was for putting them through another version of hell. I couldn't imagine the pain of not knowing where your child was, especially in the world we live in now.

Eventually the darkness gave way and my eyes opened to a very worried Adam. My lips parted and a weak unrecognizable voice came out. "You shouldn't scrunch your face like that. It gives you these worry lines making you look at least thirty." Letting my lips twitch upward in a crooked smile I tried my best to make light of the situation.

"You scared the shit out of me!" Lifting me up, my surroundings spun in every direction.

"Whoa, easy there." He held onto me until I was steady. My legs still felt wobbly, like a baby deer learning to walk.I didn't wanna go, but I couldn't show how weak, scared, and unsure I was about it all.

"I'm good. Let's go before it's too late." My fear wasn't brought on by the possible encounter with the dead. I feared the rebels. The ones who acted more sadistic than the dead themselves. The ones who had the choice, but still chose to kill and take from those in need.

 

As the afternoon sun swallowed us, the promise of protection dissipated into almost nothing. Fires cracked around us, everything was a slow burn these days. Adam motioned towards the sidewalk by along stretch of buildings and I willingly followed him. Shuffling down the walls enveloped in the shadows we were just a short distance now from a little 7/11 that was tucked under some trees on a corner street. The building remained intact and seemed to not have been a target yet of scavengers.

"We'll go in, fill both our bags and meet at the front of the store. Remember go as fast as possible and stay low. We don't need any unwanted visitors." Adam squeezed my arm and left a small kiss to linger on my right cheek. I noticed my hand automatically touch where his lips were seconds before trying to conceal the tender feeling that caused my skin to still flush after all this time. He struggled with the door for a few moments before aloud pop echoed from the lock. Slipping into the store the hot air sucked the breathe out of my lungs. Catching my breath I started to skim the shelf throwing anything healthy i could find. Adam always gave me crap for trying to find the best possible option. always teasing me saying things like "It's the apocalypse, if I wanted to eat healthy I'd go to Whole Foods, but this isn't Los Angeles and these sour patch kids are bomb. So let me live." Smirking at the kind memory I tossed the granola bars into the black duffle bag.

A sharp metal noise muffled by the glass between me and the outside reached my ears. Perking up I scanned the street to find no threat, but something inside me needed to know for sure and that something was pushing me out the door slowly before my conscious had time to catch up. My feet drug along the asphalt and carried me from the sidewalk to the street. I felt like I was floating. I would've never done this weeks ago, I've been too afraid. Adam had always kept us safe not burdening me with the danger of killing the dead. The sun now has me prisoner, a spotlight of amber, showing me off like live bait. The harsh light obscured my vision and my hand flew up to block my eyes. I squinted towards the ally across from me knowing I wasn't alone. Someone was looking back. Getting closer I could make out the curious figure as it now lingered about a hundred yards from me. The slumped stature, the blood that stained its tethered clothing left no doubt in my mind that a dead one had caught my scent. It slipped out of the smoke cloud that shielded its identity and that's when I saw the others. At least five more were tailing the one on front. My mind was a dangerous mix of anxious, scared, and curious. My mind battled my feet, yelling at them to give way and run to safety. I knew I couldn't move because deep down I wanted to observe them, I wanted to analyze the way humanity had been swallowed by the devil and then spit back out. For the past month and a half we've only encountered about a dozen and even then that was only a few fatal situations.The others were just lost souls traveling beside the truck as we drove by.

Until now I hadn't noticed how white their eyes had become. The others I'd seen before had cloudy eyes, but still the true color tried desperately to still be seen, like the last true characteristic they had left. But now the humanity stripped from them. A blank slate. The six of them were a short twenty feet away. I almost felt myself drawn to them. I wanted to touch them, see if they were as cold as they seemed or if the blood they consumed made them warm.

Suddenly blood flew across my shirt and the trance I was in had been pierced by gunshots. I spun around hoping the rebels hadn't found me, but my chest relaxed when I felt a familiar arm wrap around my torso and before I knew it I was being drug backwards by Adam. He held me up with arm and shot precisely with the other. I watched the crimson liquid paint the sidewalk, the lifeless hosts falling after a shot to the head. The last three tripping over the bodies as they pursued us. The quiet of the shop comforted me before Adams frantic voice flooded my ears.

"Quick we need to push that empty shelf in front of the door!" the screeching of the metal on the floor made me cringe as we slid the shelf in front of the glass doors. I already felt a fool. Who knew where this left us. We're sitting ducks now and if the dead that were pressed against the windows didn't leave then more would join.

"What the hell were you thinking Alicia?!" Disbelief and a hint of disappointment was plastered on his face.

"I don't know-" I couldn't make a plausible excuse at this point "I just thought I heard a noise."

"Since when did it become okay to play Nancy Drew? I've kept your ass alive for weeks and this is how you repay me? By almost getting us killed!" Those words felt like a bullet to my chest. I didn't know he looked at me like a burden.

"Oh I'm sorry that I've become such a chore for you! If it's an inconvenience then I'll walk away right now!" I shut my eyes momentarily, keeping the tears from giving away the hurt that fueled my anger. When I opened my eyes again I saw a completely different expression from Adam than before. He seemed ashamed, but not at me, at himself.

"I never meant to make you feel unwanted because you're the only thing that keeps me from giving into this world. I couldn't have survived this long without you." Now a foot from me he pulled me into his chest. "And I don't want to" I knew he was truly sorry and that was all I needed to forgive him.

"That was so stupid I know. I just wanted to do something on my own for once I wanted to be the one to find the danger and protect you. Be useful." You never feel more useless than when you're thrown into a world where all your skills have become pointless.

"Your not useless babe. You give me hope, and even though you swear that isn't something you believe in anymore, I do"

I couldn't help, but giggle a little. His lines were even cheesier than they were before.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Have you been reading Twilight again?" I thought I hid that after he read it for the third time.

"It's the only book I could find and don't judge. That Edward guy can make a girl feel some type of way with his words. But enough about vampires, we need to make a palette in the back office and wait out the dead. We can't leave right now, the gun shots probably attracted more and even worse, rebels. We'll leave when it's clear."

 

A chill woke from my deep sleep. The once warm store had fallen cold in the dead of the night. Sitting up I glanced down at Adam his disheveled black hair and low snores assured me I could sneak out to the front. Pushing against the cold floor I got up swiftly and tiptoed into the open store. I didn't see them pressed against the glass, all that was left was a thick layer of condensation stretched across the all the windows. I swiped at the cool surface making a small peep hole. The night castes a crisp blue glow across the city.The dead hadn't left us they just paced the street with no sense of direction. Brushing shoulders was the only contact they exchanged.

After fifteen minutes of watching them wander back and forth I'd grown drowsy again. I spun on my heel to return to the office, but I caught a foreign object in the distance, about a hundred feet down the street. A golden glow was out of place under the harsh moonlight.I leaned a little bit closer to the window, the glass catching my breath making it harder to see. Wiping away the moisture I noticed the golden glow moving. But not like the others, it moved with a purpose. Closer now I made out what was tailing behind the dead only feet away from them now.

A girl, the it was a girl. I watched her walk slowly her head bowed making her blonde hair a curtain that covered most of her face.She continued to weave in and out of them. I panicked waiting for this to turn into a massacre. But it never happened not a single one of the dead paid any mind to her. It was as if she was an invisible being floating among them. I hadn't noticed my face was now completely pressed up against the glass, if I leaned in any harder I'm sure I'd bust right through this window. I hadn't even blinked since my eyes fallen upon her. Finally she lifted her head with confidence and that's when I saw the blood. She was coated in crimson red, and somehow I knew she wasn't hurt. The ends of her beautiful hair was drenched in it as well as her ripped jeans and shirt. I couldn't stop analyzing her now. I needed to remember every detail.The gun strapped to her back hung over a leather jacket with multiple pockets, zippers, and tears. Her features were sharp and delicate at the same time, much like an angel. Maybe that's what she was. A sign of hope god sent to me when I needed it most. I couldn't find another explanation for someone who could walk among the dead. I wanted to yell for Adam, I wanted him to see this before it became just a story. A story that no one would believe. Instead I chose to look back out at her needing to let myself fall back into my fixation. But just as fast as she came she was gone. I wondered was she an elaborate vision my mind needed to create to prove surviving was possible? Maybe it was all in my head, and maybe I was crazy, but for now I'm allowing myself to believe she was a piece of hope sent to me even if she wasn't real.


	3. Homecoming Pt. 2

"Alicia..."

I could hear the distant voice, but I didn't want to pull my focus away from the sliver of memory I had left of the mystery girl. It'd been days since we left the city and set out to reunite with my family, well hopefully. One can never expect anything to last in this world now. I hate to think of them being gone and my last memory be of the harsh exchange of words over something that seems so trivial now.

"Hello-"

I allowed my attention to resurface. "Hmmm- what?" not bothering to make eye contact with him and I could still see his face setting into an annoyed grimace.

"You've been ignoring me for like an hour, not to mention you haven't even been present for the past two days. What's going on with you?" The childish school boy always creeps its way back into his demeanor when he is angry.

 

I have yet to tell him about my encounter with the girl that night. I fear I'll be laughed at, I fear I'll be told how foolish I am, but mostly I fear being convinced it was just mere imagination. That in the heat of the night; my body so fatigued and mind so clouded, I let the last bit of hope that hid itself away deep inside me materialize. Granted Adam isn't like that, he is a person who puts everyone above himself. Someone who makes every second count and makes every person feel individually special and needed.

"I'm just lost in thought Adam. I have this terrible anxiety about never finding my family again or worse finding there face in a crowd of the dead, looking just as lifeless as the others." It wasn't a lie. I have been suppressing this horrible feeling of the possible outcome.

 

"Alicia, we are going to find them, I don't care where and how far I have to go." His fingers slipped into mine and I let them intertwine with ease.

 

Even though his words of encouragement did melt away some of the anxiety that hovered over me like a dark cloud before the storm. I still didn't feel the serenity that washed over me once I saw the golden glow passing through the waste that is the world now. I don't know why I feel guilty for that feeling, maybe it's the guilt of holding that feeling tight and keeping it to myself that eats at me.

"If it helps we're only about fifteen hours away. Just get some, but don't snore too loud, this truck came with some sweet jams man." I turned to finally look at him only to see him holding up a CD.

"Kidz Bop 2005, Should've won a Grammy in my opinion." His wide smile felt like home and I let my lips slowly curve into a mirrored expression. The little bit of light left in my life was sitting next to me wrapped in ragged flannel and skinny jeans, and still it wasn't long before my mind wondered to her.


End file.
